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By Dave Eisenstadter, Town Correspondent

The preliminary results of Milton's French immersion lottery are in: 312 families were given their first choice, while 12 families are on the wait list.

Milton’s 12-year French immersion program, which has been active for more than 25 years, has long attracted a majority of Milton students, but this is the first year a lottery decided who could enroll in the program.

It is also the first year that students in English classrooms were offered the new STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) curriculum, which provides weekly opportunities for experimentation and projects in those fields.

Assistant Superintendent John Phelan announced the results to School Committee members at a meeting Wednesday, and added that those on the wait list should not give up hope.

“I believe there will be movement as people move out of the district or change their mind; I believe there will be movement at each one of the elementary schools,” he said.

Students in the first two years of elementary school who are in the immersion program speak only in French. In subsequent years, a certain percentage of classes are conducted entirely in French.

Last year, 66 percent of first grade parents opted to send their children into the French immersion track, while 57 percent chose to do that this year. Phelan said that was likely a direct result of offering the STEM program.

No lotteries were needed at the Cunningham and Collicot elementary schools, and all 12 families on the waiting list were at the Tucker and Glover schools, according to Phelan.

Families already in the school system will get priority over families who move to Milton this year, Phelan said.